Epilogue

Epilogue

Two weeks had passed since that night. Excepting Cole, Ethan and him, no one else knew about Justin. Or of the possibility that Justin was alive, anyway. Ethan had wavered from elation that Justin could possibly be alive, to despair thinking that it was all a con and Justin was dead. The emotional roller coaster was taking a toll on him and, worst of all, he couldn't share any of it with his dad.

Adam was convinced, though. The man with the growly voice had called him A, and to him that was telling. He tried to be there for Ethan, he really did, but the last few days had been hard. Not least of which was Ethan taking Marcus into Missoula for his first therapy. They'd stayed in Missoula overnight, and it had just been Adam at the house. Cole had gone back on duty almost immediately after the lake incident, and that left Adam alone and—he had to be honest with himself—despondent.

Which was when he found Nate. And that was a good thing.

"Hold that for me" was all Nate said when Adam walked into the stables.

Adam thought that sulking, where he could maybe get a ride out of it, was a good thing. At least it got his miserable mopey face out of other people's business.

He took the halter and then wondered why he was holding it. Nate hadn't moved, just looked at him expectantly.

"What?" Adam finally asked.

"Got a family of six, Mom, Dad, twins aged sixteen and two under-tens, booked for a trail ride up past Ember Bluff. You want to help?"

"Sure." How hard could it be? Hell, it would get him out and doing something for himself, and he had to get his head back into the game.

His latest checkup had been clear; his ribs were good, his wrist okay, and he was retrieving memories nearly every minute. The only problem with that was sensory overload: too much input led to headaches as he fought to slot the memories into where they should be. He still couldn't quite get a handle on the burning or what had happened next, but clearly his case was something to do with the meth, or close to it.

And Justin? Adam had no idea how the hell Justin being alive impacted any of this. The rational-cop part of Ethan came to the front whenever they discussed it, then he would go quiet as his heart went to war with the words he'd spoken.

Adam helped the visiting family; he learned the process from Nate, evidently familiar with some of it both from his time on the ranch in Wyoming as a hand, which was still mostly a blank, and from helping out at Crooked Tree on non-school days as a teenager, which was coming back to him more clearly.

The family were Mr. and Mrs. Keyes with their four well-behaved children. They loved the riding, loved the early-May weather—in fact there was very little they disliked about their Montana break.

Adam was the first to admit he'd not helped up to now as much as he could have, lost in what he thought of as self-indulgent languishing. He dealt with the horses, humming as he worked, and the tension that had ridden him since Ethan left lessened with each passing moment.

"How did that go?" Nate asked.

Nate was dealing with Juno, and Adam was brushing down Easy. Adam had taken to riding Justin's horse whenever he went out. "I really enjoyed it."

"You always used to follow me around, always good with the horses," Nate said. "What are your plans now?"

He was the first person to ask that question. Everyone else assumed that Adam would stay there, even Ethan.

"I want to stay here. You think there's a place for me?" Uncertainty inside him filtered into the question.

Nate looked over at him; he didn't look surprised to be asked the question.

"This is your home, Adam. Not only do you own some of it, but it's in your heart."

That was poetic from big gruff Nate, and Adam smiled over at him. "Yeah."

"We're busy, expanding, looking to open up the Creek Cabins again. We could use a guy who could run the treks, work in the stables alongside me, maybe take over some of the paperwork, like for feed and the veterinarian schedules."

"I knew there was an ulterior motive."

"What can I say, I don't like paperwork. You can start whenever, do what you can, and work up to whatever you finally want."

The suggestion seemed too good to be true, but Adam didn't have to think long. "I'll be here tomorrow," he said.'

Then they exchanged nods and smiles, and Nate left.

"Adam, can we talk?"

Adam turned to find Marcus behind him. He looked uncertain, a little gray, but his hands were in fists at his side.

"Of course. Are you okay? Do you need to sit down?"

Marcus shook his head. "It's Ethan."

Fear hit Adam. Ethan had left for Missoula early this morning for a meeting with his Chief. Had something happened. "What? What's happened."

Marcus held up a hand. "No, nothing. I'm sorry. I just…"

Adam relaxed a little.

"Seems like Ethan will be going back to Missoula to work," Marcus said. Adam knew where this was going, but hadn't expected Marcus to talk to him about it.

"I think that's a possibility."

"More than a possibility, Adam. He's a good cop, being there, in Missoula, it suits him. He was never going to stay here, not really."

Adam felt like he was treading on a field of landmines. "Are you okay with that?" he asked, cautiously.

"Remind him I told him it was okay, that I think it's a good thing."

"You told him that?"

"I talked to him when he was with me in hospital for the first treatment. I think we made headway to getting back to where we should be."

"I think so," Adam agreed.

"He said that he'd be home as often as he could, and that he wasn't leaving for good this time." Marcus sounded hopeful, but was clearly waiting for Adam to confirm what Ethan had said.

"We're making a home here," Adam confirmed. "Is that okay?"

Marcus stepped right up into his space and pulled him into a hug. "God, yes." And then, with no other words, he left.

Adam finished up and went back to his house, feeling relief at seeing Ethan waiting for him on the porch. "How did it go with the Chief?" he asked as he climbed the steps.

Ethan didn't answer, only swept him into a heated kiss, right there in the early-evening quiet. When they separated, Ethan looked so grave.

"It was okay," he admitted. "It went well."

Ethan squeezed his hand and tugged him into their house.

They made coffee and decided to walk down to Branches for dinner in the hope Sam would take pity on them. They stopped halfway down, checked in on a now sleeping Marcus, and lingered a while on the bridge, hand in hand, both thoughtful and quiet.

"Your dad came to see me at the stables."

"He did? Was he okay?"

"Said I should remind you he's okay with you going back to work in Missoula."

Ethan nodded, looked lost in thought, then pulled Adam in close. "Love you," he whispered.

Only when they sat next to each other on the sofa of Adam's place, with plates of food on their laps, did Adam recall what he meant to ask. "So, tell me, what did Chief Flynn say to you today?"

"That he'll take me back tomorrow." Ethan wasn't holding back or explaining away, evidently going for the direct approach.

"Did you say you'd go back?" They'd discussed the decision; decided they could make things work if Ethan was in Missoula and Adam was at Crooked Tree. Ethan could come home on his days off, and Adam could visit the city. Ethan had been born to be a cop, or that is what Adam thought.

Ethan glanced at him and he looked worried. "I said I'd talk to you."

"You're a good cop. Ethan. You should go back."

"What will you do? Would you come with me? I think you should take up your place here."

"And on that note, Nate said he wanted me to work alongside him, take up my role on the ranch."

Relief crossed Ethan's face. "It's what you should do. You belong here, with the horses." Then he looked a little uncertain. "What did you say to Nate?"

"That I wanted to stay. I was born a rancher's son, but that doesn't mean anything unless you love the land as much as I do. I guess this is where I was always meant to be, but I know it means you'd be in Missoula alone…."

"Don't think like that. When I work, I don't think about much else. You'll be okay here, with new memories to build, and I'll be home as often as I can. Back to you, here, if you want me to be. We could have a home here, build a family."

"You'd only be coming back to check on your dad anyway," Adam teased.

"Ass. That's only half of it. I want to be with you, always."

"Okay then, I'll be part of the ranch, and you'll get the bad guys out there. Then you'll come home to me, and we'll make this place ours."

"I will. I love you, and I want forever with you. Whatever form that forever takes."

And then, without the shadow of Justin between them, Adam pressed a kiss to Ethan's lips and then stepped back, with love in his heart and a future that looked bright. "I love you, Ethan."

"I'll always love you, Adam." Ethan smiled as he spoke. "I'll never stop."

"Which is a good thing given I wouldn't let you."

They sat holding hands facing the blank wall, and leaning into each other.

"You know what, though," Adam mused.

"What?"

"If we're going to live here, we should actually buy some furniture."

THE END